With the recent growth in telecommuting, home offices are also becoming a necessity rather than a luxury. Home buyers are looking for a place where they can work, a place to pay bills or simply surf the net. Investing in a home office will help you now and may pay off later. Have you always dreamed of a home office? Do you have an office that is overrun with papers? A home office is usually the place where junk finds its home. Getting that room into a place where organization is king can be easier than you think. Implementing an organizational system that has you working in peace with everything at your fingertips is easy if you follow these simple tips. 1. Choose the space. Think of all the things that you’ll need to work comfortably in your home office. You want to make sure the space will allow for your desk and chair and anything else you will need in your office. 2. Organize your space. Part of organizing means decluttering. If you have three staplers, six pairs of scissors you will need to get rid of anything extra. Clutter is very distracting and reduces efficiency. Identify a space for all the necessities. You need to identify a place for the printer, file cabinet, reference books and supplies. 3. Schedule the date and time for your office organization. Set aside a specific time and date to plan your space. If you have lots of files and file cabinets, make a decision on how much you want to get done in the initial session. You may need to plan several dates to complete the whole task. 4. Reorganize. Clean and organize your office at the end of each day. It will only take a few minutes and keep you on track to staying organized. Plan on reorganizing your office every three months or so. By planning your home office space and getting it organized you’ll enjoy it more. Your work will be better, you’ll appreciate being at home, and you’ll have the perfect place to work–your home. Now focus on success!]]>
Pets and Staging Your Home
Staging your home for potential buyers can be quite the hassle. You may start moving your furniture around spontaneously, or become tense when your children or spouse make messes in a room that you just prepped for show. With all of the planning that one can put into making their home shine, one crucial step in home staging is often overlooked: your family pet. For the sake of simplicity, I will outline a few things that you must keep in mind when cleaning up after your pet in a home for sale. Pet presence – For obvious reasons, some pets can’t leave the house. Giant enclosures, aquariums, and disabled pets are hard to relocate sometimes, and a lot of people will be understanding of this. But if your dog or cat is healthy, then you’ll want to strongly consider relocating your pets temporarily. Many people aren’t pet owners, and don’t like being around an excitable golden retriever or a yippy chihuahua when they are trying to imagine their family occupying your home. Remember….You are trying to make the potential buyer as relaxed as possible. Ask a friend if they wouldn’t mind looking after your loved one for a bit, and if all else fails, look into a reputable boarding service for your pet. Fur – Fur can get everywhere. Even in places that you, as a resident of your home, don’t necessarily notice all of the time. Be sure to give your couches, chairs, and love seats proper attention. That means taking the pillows and cushions off, and using a hand vacuum or brush to remove all of the fur you see. After you are sure that they are thoroughly cleaned, use a fabric freshener to finish it off. Try to do this well in advance of the potential buyer, as some people have sensitivities to fabric fresheners. Litter – No matter what kind of animal you have, odds are you have do deal with some form of waste. It may sound pretty obvious, but make sure your litter beds are clean and well hidden. Even if you own an exotic pet like a reptile of amphibian, this includes you too. Many people don’t like snakes, but they’ll like a messy snake cage even less. Another important thing to remember as an exotic pet owner is this: even though you may not be able to smell anything offensive coming from your reptile’s cage, that doesn’t mean that there isn’t an odor. Many people who live with reptiles get used to the subtle odors that emit from the cages, and will tend to spot-clean their animal’s cage without giving it the proper scrub-down that it needs. Odors – Don’t use air fresheners to mask pet odor. It is meant to freshen the air…Not cover pet odors up. Instead, use powdered cleaners on carpets and rugs that your pets frequent. These can be purchased at your local pet store in the cleaning isle. Odds are, if someone has a severe allergy to animals, then they are going to be at risk of having a reaction. The cleaner the house, the less dander will be in the home.]]>
Scentmosphere; what is it?
Independent studies have confirmed that deploying particular scents in a home for sale can dramatically increase the home’s appeal to a potential buyer. With that being said, what is the best way to go about changing your home’s “scentmosphere”? 1. – The Friend Test – Often times, we get used to particular scents in our home, so much so that we don’t even notice that they’re there. Litter boxes, old couches, bathrooms, and bedrooms can all breed their own “scentmosphere”, and some can be more noticeable and offensive than others. Have a friend come over and, well…..Smell your home. Your friend doesn’t live in your home. They can pick up on things that you may not be able to, like the smell of dirty laundry, a musty-smelling finished basement, or a well-lived-in bedroom. These “other person” smells can turn off a buyer in a heartbeat. If you are a smoker, then stop smoking inside while your house is on the market. Keep children’s rooms tidy and clean-smelling. 2. – Kitchen Comfort – There are many scents that can be utilized in the kitchen to make it more appealing. Candles, lemon wedges chopped up into a garbage disposal, cinnamon sticks in the oven, and fresh-cut flowers can be utilized for this purpose. Some people swear by citrus scents, others by baked goods, but it really boils down to personal preference. Lavender has been shown to produce a calming effect, and fruit scents like apples and peaches can carry classier undertones. 3. – Subtlety is key. You want a noticeable “scentmosphere”, but not one that is overpowering. Pick your scents accordingly. If you overdo it, people may think you’re trying too hard to cover something up. Remember that because we breathe, we smell things constantly. Each individual smell shouldn’t be strong enough to cover multiple rooms in your house. You don’t want your entire downstairs to smell like the cinnamon you have in the kitchen. Likewise, a fresh lemon scent all over the entire house can make it seem like there are smells that will creep into the “scentmosphere” once the lemon scents wear off. Less is more. ]]>
Preparing Your Home for Selling
When selling your home, you want it to appeal to a wide variety of people, not showcase your personality or preferences. While you might love deep red walls in your dining room, it might be too bold for a potential buyer. Your goal is to sell your home and having the right buyer appeal is key. There are a few things to think of when staging your home. Paint color is a must unless you already use neutral colors in your home. When looking for paint colors think of beige, olives, yellows, tans and greys. Outdated wallpaper patterns are a big no-no. Not only will an outdated look not be appealing to a buyer but the thought of having to take it down after buying the home can be a negative to a buyer. Taking down the wallpaper, fixing any imperfections in the walls with spackle and sanding, and applying a new coat of paint will go a long way. Choosing a paint with a low sheen will help hide any imperfections that may still remain. De-cluttering your home will give it a clean, organized look that will appeal to a buyer. Minimal items should remain in your home and going through your space to take out anything you don’t need and sending it to storage is ideal. Think about your furniture as well, since often too much furniture can cause spaces to look small. In addition, by pulling furniture away from the walls and placing them in conversational groups, you add space to a room. Having the right decorative items can help to create an inviting space. Rather than having items lined up, trying grouping different items together, like on the coffee table. Hang pictures and art work in groups as well, avoiding a traditional straight line on the wall. Make sure that you have things such as decorative towels and soaps in the bathroom to help set the scene. And adding the right lighting can help set a welcoming mood. Make sure you have a variety of lighting in each space, from table lamps, to accent lighting, and whole room lighting. Basically, when staging your home, you want to make it a place that someone would want to live. Little touches here and there can really make a difference. With a little investment you might just find you are getting the offers you were hoping for.]]>
How to Make a Room Look Bigger
If you are selling your home or just looking to redecorate, one thing you may want to do is make the rooms look bigger. Here are some tips on how to make the rooms in your home appear larger: Use an oversize mirror to enhance the effect of light. Mirrors reflect both natural and artificial light making a room bigger and brighter. Glass-topped tables and see-through furniture can create an illusion that enhances the room with a more open flow. Clear the clutter. There’s nothing that makes a small space feel even more cramped than having too much stuff. Rooms with everything in place have a certain flow to them. A room without clutter has a more streamline look and a larger appearance. Light colored walls will also make your rooms appear bigger. Colors such as cream, beige, light grayish-blue and lavender will reflect and multiply the light giving the room an airy feel. Use dual-purpose furniture. Furniture that doubles as storage increases the function of each space. Pieces like an entryway bench with storage space or a flip-top ottoman are great ways to combine furniture and function. Use vertical space to create storage and maximize those out-of-the-way areas in your home. Utilize those out-of-the-way nooks like the area under a flight of stairs. ]]>